Perigord Excursion

Just incase anyone was worrying, my social awkwardness is still alive and well, as I continue to fumble and falter with the bises (pronounced beezes - the two cheek kisses used to greet EVERYONE). You’d think it wouldn’t be that hard, but it is. I’m doing alright in the realm of cultural misunderstandings. Nothing too grave lately, especially now that I’m starting to get this whole friend thing figured out (or at least I think I am). Language barriers are still tricky from time to time. For example, today I tried to ask my friend Junior if he was feeling better (he’s got a cold). Thinking that this is what I was saying, I asked “est-ce que tu sens mieux?” Jokingly, he lifted his arm, smelled his pit and said yes. I then realized I’d asked “do you smell better?” and not “do you feel better”, which is really “est-ce que tu te sens mieux?” Luckily, Junior is used to my mistakes and corrected me, as usual. Other than that, things are going well :)

This past weekend was really great. The 7 of us K kids went on a 3 day excursion with M. Faure and his wife to Périgord, a region of France which is more southwest than Auvergne. M. Faure rented a minibus and was our chauffeur, which was fun since he tended to get lost every couple of hours. With the help of iTrip and our iPods, we managed to have the world’s longest sing-along during the bus ride. All we were missing was the bouncing red ball. At one point, M. Faure pulled over to the side of the road, stopped the bus, unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned around to tell us that he had a really great idea on how we could pick up guys (he’s always looking out for us). His thought was that we needed to go out onto the street in front of the school with our phone numbers hanging on signs around our necks and sing together. He then proceeded to turn around, start up the car, and drive on. I was teasing him later, saying that I couldn’t believe he stopped the car to tell us that and he said that it’s not very often that he has such great ideas which lead me to believe that he may have actually been serious.

We stopped for lunch at a really neat old town called Sarlat. The region of Périgord is famous for its food and its wine! In particular, Périgord is famous for its duck, fois gras, and gateau aux noix (nut cake). So what did I eat at lunch? Duck and gateau aux noix, and it was divine. Our next stop was in a town (I forgot the name) where the homes were built into the side of a cliff. They had normal looking exteriors, just built into the side of a cliff. We took a guided boat tour that traveled along the face of the cliff. I’ll post pictures soon. We continued onward and arrived later that evening in Périgueux, which is the largest city in Périgord. That night, we ate dinner out in the country at a family run place. The dinner was prearranged for us, and man did we eat well. The first course was a delicious soup, which was unfortunate because we all ate two bowls, thus leaving less space for what was to come. The next course was a salad that had duck gizzards, duck bacon, and fois gras in/on it. Not gonna lie; despite its deliciousness, this one was a little hard to eat, but I did it anyway, and cleared my plate at that. The next course was, yet again, duck. And dessert? Nut cake. That’s okay, it was all so delicious. Unfortunately, it was all so greasy and rich that I was soo sick that night! All I could do was curl up in a ball and groan.

The next day, we ventured out to see the city, which is made up of two sections: the medieval renaissance quarter and the Gallo-Roman quarter. We did a guided tour of the medieval renaissance quarter which was amazing and included lots of narrow streets full of awesome architecture and a cathedral that served as the model for Sacré-Coeur. The tour also included seeing a white-marble bust of a Roman emperor called Marc Aurele who at first glance I could have mistaken for my brother, Nat. That afternoon we went to a museum full of “tromp-l’oeil” paintings, or the best I can come up with is magic-eye/ trick-eye paintings? I don’t know! What are they called in English? They’re paintings in which the objects look so real that you’re convinced that they just might not be paintings. The artists also paint all kinds of little overlooked details into their pieces. It was fun. Afterwards, I took myself on a self-guided tour of the Roman quarter, which was full of cool Roman ruins, like an old temple, parts of an amphitheatre, as well as parts of a wall that bordered the area. Pictures to come.

On our way home the next day, we stopped at St. Emilion (very famous for its wine) and took another guided tour. On this tour, we saw an underground cathedral, catacombs, and all kinds of other fun stuff. In the afternoon, we took a ride through the vineyards on a little trolley thing and saw several chateaus and famous wineries. Sarah and I bought a bottle to take back to the States with us and drink in a year when we’re feeling sad and wishing we were in France. We’ve just got to figure out a way to get it home…

That was my weekend! I’m looking forward to getting this week over with because next week is our fall break and I’m going to Italy! Rome, Florence, and Venice (with a little Paris before and after). I feel like such a brat. I don’t care! I’m in Europe, damn it, and I’m going to enjoy it! I just can’t forget about this whole school thing…